China has become the first country to gather samples from the far side of the moon and bring them back to Earth in a landmark achievement for the Beijing space programme.containing the precious cargo parachuted into a landing zone in the rural Siziwang Banner region of Inner Mongolia on Tuesday after being released into Earth’s orbit by the uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe.
The US, China and the former Soviet Union have gathered samples from the near side of the moon but China is the first to bring material home from the far side. The intention was to collect up to 2kg of moon rock and soil. Understanding the rate at which large asteroids battered the moon in its early history would shed light on the impact history of Earth, he added, as our home planet would be struck by the same kinds of asteroids at the same time. “Constraining this is important for understanding the impact regime under which life first appeared on Earth,” he said.
“Recovering samples from the far side is tremendously exciting scientifically, as we only have very limited information on the geology there,” Barstow said. “It has been processed very differently to the side of the moon facing us, which has been extensively resurfaced by volcanic activity in the past, creating the maria from which most samples have been obtained.”
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